Left populism in Turkey through the example of Ekrem İmamoğlu

Abstract

Populism which has emerged in different societies and at different historical times in world politics, is one of the pioneering political concepts that is also effective in Turkey, and has become a key concept in explaining Turkish politics. Populism came into existence in the Ottoman Empire during the Second Constitutional Monarchy period under the leadership of Ottoman intellectuals who were influenced by the Narodnik movements in Russia. Since then, populism has passed through certain stages and changes in Turkish politics, and has managed to reach the present day. Especially after the establishment of the Democratic Party, many aspects of populism, which succeeded in establishing close relations with right-wing parties, gained visibility in the pioneering leaders of Turkish politics and had variations of right and left populism. While right-wing populism has more symbolic ties with nationalism, history and religion, left-wing populism has been closely associated with concepts such as equality, freedom, and justice.

In this article, the thesis that Ekrem İmamoğlu who won the mayorship of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in the local elections of March 31, 2019 in Turkey, has played an important role in this success by effectively and effectively using the basic codes of conservative, nationalist, right populism in addition to the Kemalist, secular, left populist codes he used. In this sense, both the Kemalist, secular, left-wing versions and the right-wing, conservative, nationalist versions of the populism used by Ekrem İmamoğlu during the election process have been tried to be revealed by utilizing the critical discourse analysis technique.

Ekrem İmamoğlu effectively used the basic codes of left populism such as equality, freedom, and justice, and succeeded in gaining the support of Kemalist, secular and leftist voters. In addition, Ekrem İmamoğlu frequently made visible the historical, national, and religious values that the right, conservative, and nationalist segments attach importance to, both in his discourses and in his attitudes and behaviors in the public arena during the election. In this context, Ekrem İmamoğlu, using the conservative, nationalist, right-wing populist codes in Turkey effectively and functionally, received the support of those who are called both conservative and nationalist voters and who are historically distant from the Republican People’s Party. He played an effective role in the election of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.